The history of the Jewish people is not just one of rise and fall. It is a process, a purification, a sieve of many filters, a smelting furnace that refines the raw ore again and again until only the purest gold remains.
That is why today we are able to do a mitzvah today in a world so foreign to mitzvahs; to fill our lives with that which filled our great-grandparents’ and raise children that way; to go against the stream of the culture around us and be the Jew inherent within.
It is not with our own power, or with our own minds. It is with a hidden memory, an indestructible force that survived as our heritage.
I shared this beautiful "Daily Dose of Wisdom" during the Thanksgiving holiday in America. Today, with Chanukah approaching, I shall share it again. The "Wisdom" is just as appropriate. While Chanukah and Christmas are totally separate celebrations, this year the first night of Chanukah will be celebrated on Christmas Eve. Perhaps, more than any other "holiday," it is a time that the recognition of our hidden memory should be stronger than ever. No doubt, in most business offices, many shops and apartment buildings—throughout America and other countries around the world—one will see and hear the presence of Christmas all around them. Signs of Chanukah will barely be seen. I make it a practice to ask my bank, the stores in which I shop, and the management of my apartment complex, "Where is the Menorah? Where is there just one image of the Star of David?" In most instances, I see a blank face. In a rare few, an image of Chanukah may appear. It is my indestructible DNA force that survives